Treat your party guests with this warm and creamy, dairy-free buffalo chicken dip! Made with a delicious cashew cream buffalo sauce and no mayo, it's a dip recipe that is made for sharing! It's also gluten-free, paleo and whole30!
Start by placing your cashews in a bowl or container and covering them with water. Set aside to soak overnight. Note: you can soak your cashews overnight to make a creamier texture, but the recipe turns out great just soaking them for the 2-3 hours. Or, you can boil the cashews for 10 minutes to soften them and then drain.
Place your chicken in the instant pot and pour salsa over the top. Close the lid and make sure the pressure valve is closed. Press the "manual" button (or "pressure cook" button) and set the time to cook for 20 minutes at high pressure. Allow the cooking cycle to complete and then quick release the pressure. NOTE: Alternatively, you can cook the chicken in your slow cooker on high for 3 hours.
While the chicken is cooking, drain the cashews and place them in a food processor with the chopping blade (or a high-powered blender). Add garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, hot sauce, mustard, nutritional yeast and 1/2 cup of water. Process until everything reaches a smooth consistency.
Once the chicken has finished cooking shred it with two forks until all of the chicken is in small shreds.
Preheat your oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
Add the cashew mixture to the shredded chicken. Mix well until the cashew mixture and chicken is evenly combined. Taste and add in more hot sauce if desired.
Place in a shallow baking dish (pie dish) and spread out evenly. NOTE: You can prep the dip in advance up to this step and refrigerate it until you are ready to bake it.
Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Remove from the oven once the dip is warm in the middle and crispy edges develop. Cool at least 5 minutes before serving.